Arne Slot gives bleak Alisson Becker injury update after Liverpool win

Liverpool could be without Alisson Becker for upcoming games against Chelsea and Arsenal after the goalkeeper was forced off in Saturday’s win over Crystal Palace.

The Red continued their impressive start under new head coach Arne Slot but the enthusiasm will be dampened by a suspected hamstring injury to the first-choice keeper. Alisson went down in the 79th-minute after clearing the ball and immediately called for assistance.

He was replaced by Vitezslav Jaros for the final minutes and Liverpool held on for the win. Speaking after the game, Slot admitted that Alisson was likely to miss upcoming games.

“The latest is we don’t know, but what we know is when a player walks off like he does that normally means he won’t be in the Brazil squad and I don’t expect him in to be the team in the game we play afterwards,” the Liverpool boss explained. “We have to wait and see. It will take a few weeks I assume… I think it is his hamstring.”

“We will probably not be as dominant as we were today when we face Arsenal away but both fixtures are very difficult,” he continued. “Now it is up to ourselves to show ourselves in the big games as well.”

With the upcoming October international break, Liverpool’s next game is the visit of Chelsea on October 20. Their next six games are: Chelsea (Premier League), RB Leipzig (Champions League), Arsenal (Premier League), Brighton & Hove Albion (EFL Cup), Brighton & Hove Albion (Premier League), Bayer Leverkusen (Champions League) and Aston Villa (Premier League).

Who is Liverpool back-up Vitezslav Jaros?

With normal reverse goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher out due to illness, Czech keeper Vitezslav Jaros stepped in to replace Alisson. The 23-year-old had little to do during his late cameo but showed good judgement when he surged from his line late on to smother a promising through-ball from Palace.

The Czech international joined Liverpool in 2017 after impressing in the youth teams for Slavia Prague. His appearance on Saturday was his first outing for the club in any competition. In recent years he has spent time on loan at St Patrick’s, Notts County, Stockport County and Sturm Graz.

Asked abut Jaros’ performance in a high-pressure environment, Slot said he was pleased: “Really good, really good. He had a very good season last season, he won the league and the cup in Austria. We trust him a lot.”

“He wanted to go because he wanted playing time again, but we said, ‘Listen, at a club like this we also need a very good third goalkeeper’. Today proved we were right and it was a very nice moment for him to make his debut for Liverpool.”